The priestess was odd.

Sesshomaru watched as she tended to his father's gardens. The palace itself had once been the most opulent palace in the yokai world, but after his father's demise, it had fallen into disuse.

Yet her hand seemed to tame that. What had once seemed to suffocate him with its overgrown gardens and moth-ridden sheets had surprisingly begun to feel like home.

His mother's palace had never felt like home, nor had he ever experienced such a feeling in his travels. Yet here, with his eclectic pack, he found himself relaxing as he never had before. The hanyo, once the bane of his existence, failed to irritate him beyond a passing annoyance, and in an odd way, seemed to keep the palace alive when it was so sparsely populated. Jaken and Ah-Un often helped the priestess with her endeavors to restore the palace, the former unwilling but the latter willing and content. Even Rin seemed to enjoy the chores she was assigned.

What was more, the priestess had insisted on restoring every room in the palace, whether they intended to use it or not. His father's vast treasury had been mobilized to replace what could not be repaired by the priestess' own hands and before he'd realized it, the palace had begun to resemble its former glory.

And the priestess, true to her word, was content.

Perhaps, he allowed, it had been the hot springs she'd located in what had been his sire's bedroom. The spring had become clogged with debris but Kagome had been determined to restore it and restore it she had. She'd squealed with delight and had promptly moved in and he had been oddly unwilling to dissuade her. It should have bothered him to have her in his father's rooms as though she were the master of the house, but it hadn't.

It was only for the winter, after all. Wasn't it?

By the time winter was at its pinnacle, there wasn't a room or object that the priestess hadn't had her hand on. She'd rebuilt furniture, restored the wood, and had even gone with Jaken on several locations to the human city of Edo to pick up more elaborate and ornate items than the nearby human villages would have offered. No matter how daunting the task, she'd taken it on with a relish few, yokai or human, would have had to offer.

And yet Sesshomaru had done very little, though not for lack of trying in the end. Seeing the priestess work so hard had in turn motivated him, yet his claws prevented him from taking on more delicate tasks. He gouged wood when he attempted to restore it, he shredded cloth when he tried to sew or use it, and he torn into floor boards when he'd attempted to lay them into place.

Inuyokai, it seemed, were simply not homemakers and he'd eventually given up trying. The priestess, to her credit, had never scolded him for his efforts, though she had subtly tried to steer him into less dangerous tasks—for his possessions, at least.

The one task he had surprisingly excelled at was gardening. His claws could dig into the semi-frozen earth, allowing the priestess access to replant when necessary and to devise a clever irrigation that, come spring, would ensure that the living plants would continue to thrive. They also made swift work of overgrown plant life, which had delighted the priestess.

InuYasha, on the other hand, had dedicated himself to the priestess' every request, but more often than not he lacked any real patience or finesse and tended to find himself banished shortly after attempting any of the tasks he'd been given.

Sesshomaru leaned back against one of the wooden posts surrounding the palace. Spring would be here soon and the thought irritated him. What had started out as simply an expedient solution had somehow turned into a preferred one.

Was this what you felt, Father? he wondered as he stared aimlessly up at the sky. If so, this one can no longer fault you for what you chose.

He closed his eyes and tried to find some peace in the decision he'd knew he'd have to make himself.

.

Kagome leaned back in the hot spring with a happy sigh.

She'd kept her word to Sesshomaru and then some. The palace had been restored to its former glory—if not better, she thought to herself proudly—and it was not just habitable, but a palace able to inspire awe in anyone who laid eyes on it.

Not that it's likely anyone else will, she thought to herself. I can't exactly see Sesshomaru being all that big on open house.

Still, the palace would catch him the eye of anyone he wanted to mate, should he choose to follow in his father's footsteps. Should he choose to wander instead, she was positive he'd find some other use for it. Rin, at least, seemed attached, so perhaps he would leave it in her custody. With the palace tucked away is it was, it wasn't like he'd have to worry about anyone finding and harming her.

"I wonder what he'll do," she mused to herself. "InuYasha fully intends to leave as soon as the snows melt. I can feel how antsy he's getting. But though Sesshomaru didn't seem thrilled to be here, it's not like he's tried to leave, either."

But she hadn't forgotten Sesshomaru's words, either.

"It is different for inuyokai. It is customary for our kind to wander until mating, though not all cease doing so... It is very rare for a female to travel unless at her mate's or father's behest. They prefer to live more comfortable lives, pampered and residing in opulence."

Would Sesshomaru ever stop wandering?

Part of her hoped he wouldn't. If he did, it was unlikely she'd see him again, for Kagome's wandering days were pretty much over. The Feudal Era would soon be unified, if she remembered history enough, but it would by no means be peaceful and Kagome knew the follies of a single woman traveling alone.

Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was different. Only an idiot would attack him and she doubted any would live to tell the tale. But if she were in his shoes, would she want to keep wandering indefinitely?

She sighed and sank back into the water, leaving just enough of her face above water to breathe.

Kagome knew she wouldn't be happy traveling indefinitely. She'd always traveled before with purpose, first for the Shikon shards and then after Naraku, and it would be too difficult to travel a long time over a long distance without some end goal in sight.

But as she'd told Sesshomaru, short journeys would be fun, if she could go in relative safety.

So what would she do, when she returned to the village with InuYasha? The Tokyo of her time didn't exist—in feudal Japan, Edo hadn't spread to the Bone Eater well and the surrounding villages. The megalopolis wouldn't expand that far for at least another two or three centuries. It wasn't like she could hop on a bullet train or get on a boat or plane and go somewhere. If she wanted to travel, it would have to be on her own two feet and she'd have to accept whatever risks came her way.

She couldn't go home, either. The Bone Eater well's magic had died out after her last travel here, to InuYasha.

InuYasha might travel with her, for a while, but eventually he'd want to settle back down. He'd been hinting at a family for a while before she'd told him how she felt, and traveling with him would only reinforce his old desires to go home and marry. And she'd want to go home, too, from time to time, but not for the same reasons he would. It would be cruel to travel with him and let him think otherwise.

"Gah!" She surfaced and pushed her hair out of her face. Whatever path she chose, something she wanted would be sacrificed.

.

A week later, as Kagome was relaxing out in the gardens under a heavy kimono Jaken had helped procure for her, Sesshomaru suddenly appeared and settled down on the bench beside her.

"You are happy here," he said, but unlike the last time they'd had a similar conversation, it wasn't a question.

She answered him anyway. "Yeah, I am."

"But not entirely," he guessed and she sensed his disappointment.

"No!" she hastily reassured him. "I am happy here, Sesshomaru. I think a woman would have to be out of her mind not to like it here. Just look at how delirious Rin is."

They both glanced over to see Rin off in the distance playing some feudal era version of hide and seek with Jaken and Ah-Un. The girl might be older, but she hadn't given up her girlish antics yet.

"It's not this place," she continued, imploring him to understand her. "And it's not you, either, or yokai in general. I just... I told you before, I like to travel from time to time. It's been a really long time since I've had to stay in just one place and I'm a little stir crazy."

His eyes widened as if he hadn't expected to hear her say that. "So if you travel, you would be content?"

She smiled. "Well, yeah. I mean, I'd want to come back to rest, but yeah. I'm a little jealous of you, Sesshomaru. You can travel anywhere you want, do anything you want, and you'd be safe. Even though I'm a priestess, I can't really do the same."

"InuYasha would protect you," Sesshomaru said bluntly but she had the feeling she'd surprised him again.

"Yeah, he would." She sighed. "But not the way I'd want him to and that's not really fair to him, either."

"There is little in life that is fair," Sesshomaru said, surprising her. "This one has come to believe that you offer the closest approximation of it."

She gaped at him, unable to find the words to reply. What?

"What if this one were to travel with you?" At her surprised look, he added, "For a while. You could return here after."

Her jaw dropped further. It was the last thing she'd expected and Kagome, for once, was completely speechless.

"W-wouldn't other yokai care if you did that?" she finally choked out.

He shrugged. "Other yokai are not this one's concern."

From that, she gathered that if anyone complained, he'd simply dispatch them.

"Human lives are short," she tried again, unsure how to make him see what she needed. "I want marriage one day. Kids."

His eyes focused fully on her for the first time and the brilliant gold held her motionless. Even InuYasha's eyes when she'd fully loved him had not captivated her so.

"So have them," he said shortly.

She waved an arm around in frustration. "With who?" she demanded. "Who exactly do you see running up to me to marry and don't—" she cautioned him when she saw him open his mouth, "don't you dare say InuYasha."

"Very well," he said dryly but she had the feeling he was hiding a laugh. "Is he the only male here?"

"I am not marrying Jaken!" she hissed, scandalized. Even the thought of kissing that slimy little toad—

He actually scoffed in irritation. "This one was not," he ground out, "suggesting him."

There was no way he was saying what she thought he was. No way.

"No!" She shook her head. "No, no, no, no, no. There's no way Sesshomaru just said that to me. This is all just some crazy dream brought on by me drinking sake with InuYasha last night. It was a horrible idea, and I regret it now, but—"

Sesshomaru covered her mouth with his hand to silence her.

"You're serious," she realized as she met his gaze again.

He nodded.

"But why?" she demanded.

He shrugged again. "Why does anyone marry? Children are not undesirable, and this one has begun to realize that your company is passable."

It wasn't a declaration of love, but frankly if Sesshomaru had passionately declared himself, hell would have froze over, pigs would have flown, and her father would have come back from the dead. As it was, the current situation was almost outside the realm of believability.

"They'd be hanyo," she finally replied.

"So they would," he replied just as flatly.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

He paused, then said, "No. You have spoken of your world before and it appears that yokai will have no place in them. My line is therefore destined to die out without heirs to our once powerful line. Perhaps something of us will live on in humans."

"You don't love me," she said but she wasn't upset. She didn't expect him to and in this day and age, it wasn't required for a proposal. She wasn't sure if she could love him, either, but she also had come to realize that, without InuYasha, her prospects were almost none. Priestesses in this time didn't marry and most of the young men had already wed by her age. She could become a second or third wife but even the idea was repellant to her. She could marry a widower, but most of them were missing limbs or teeth or else they'd have already remarried themselves, whether they already had children or not.

That left yokai, and Sesshomaru was the only remaining attractive yokai left who hadn't married someone.

Perhaps she'd grow to love him, she mused as he shook his head. It would at least be a chance for happiness she might not otherwise have.

"It is a foreign feeling," he admitted. "But if this one were to love someone, he thinks it would be you."

A feeling of acceptance washed over her at those words. It was the most truthful answer she'd ever gotten from a man about his feelings and it was that that decided her.

"Okay," she said. "Maybe I can love you, too."

Something red flashed in his eyes before he bent his head to kiss her, but when she blinked, it was gone.

His lips were gentle at first, easing her into a deeper kiss that she had little experience with. But when she returned his affections with her own questioning touches, something seemed to implode within him and his kisses became more demanding, not allowing her to retreat enough to even think.

And then as he drew her closer to him, her mind shut down completely and she just focused on the passion he was inciting within her.

.

Sesshomaru ran his claws through her hair, careful not to inadvertently cut any of the strands with his claws.

It had become a familiar sight: Kagome sprawled over him, dazed and sleeping from the passion they'd shared. This time, however, she was sleeping from more than just simple exhaustion from their nightly activities, sleeping deeply enough that not even his movements disturbed her.

If this was love, he finally understood his father.

Nothing would convince him to give up Kagome now, not even his precious newborn children snoozing happily in their bed not two feet from them. Twin boys, with their mother's temper, their father's coloring, and a curious blend of their parents' power. They were hanyo, as Kagome had predicted, but stronger than InuYasha had been.

Perhaps it was because he'd surpassed his father or perhaps it was because of their mother's power, but it was a blessing either way.

For the first time, he finally understood what it meant to have something to protect that was worth any cost. Kagome had managed to restore a fire out of the ashes of his heart, freeing him to become the daiyokai his father had always believed he could be.

But it was in his wife and his two sons that he saw the promise of power, for nothing, not even his old conquest of Nippon, had ever made him feel so powerful as he did in that moment, looking after and protecting his family as they slept.